Doctors Sneak Malpractice Protection into Medicare Fix Bill

The Federal government pays out hundreds of millions of dollars annually to doctors and hospitals in the form of Medicare and Medicaid (AHCCCS here in Arizona) payments.  It wants to make sure it is getting its (and your) money’s worth.  For that reason, it has formulated standards which doctors must meet in order to get paid.  For example, it has created a list of “never events.”  These are events which should never happen, such as operating on the wrong leg.  You operate on the wrong leg, you don’t get paid by Medicare or by the patient for that operation.

For many years there has been a technical problem with the formula used to determine how much money doctors get from Medicare.  Instead of fixing it once and for all, Congress just kept kicking the can down the road.  Sound familiar?  This year, however, the House of Representatives got its act together and passed a bill fixing the problem.  Now, according to reports in the press, it turns out that the doctors and their insurance companies put a provision in the fix bill stating that federal standards, like the “never events,” cannot be used as evidence of malpractice in a court case.  If the doctor commits a “never event,” you would not be able to tell the jury that there is such a thing as a “never event” and that the doctor malpracticed by doing it.  This is something that has been on their wish list for years.  It is another example of patient protection being thrown under the bus in favor of ever more doctor protection.

Every day I have to tell a patient or a patient’s family that there has been malpractice but I cannot take their case because the Arizona legislature has passed special laws to make it very difficult to successfully sue a doctor or hospital.  Only the most seriously injured patients with the clearest cases have any chance at all.  It is about time someone put the patient’s interests first.  The Senate has to take up the House bill.  Let your senator know you want the doctor protection language stripped from the Medicare fix bill.  How about a little patient protection for a change?

Posted in Doctors, Hospitals, Lawsuits, Medical Malpractice, medical malpractice cases, medical malpractice claims, medical malpractice lawsuits, medical mistakes, Medicare, never events, tort reform |